|
previous
| next | table
of contents
MODULE
7 IMAGES
One of the first
places that journalists can provide an opportunity for members of
all racial, ethnic and religious groups to identify with the content
of the newspaper, magazine, or television broadcasts is through
the use of pictures. Note to leader: Ask the seminar participants
what kinds of pictures of minorities - if any - are included in
the newspaper or television news broadcasts. Do minorities serve
as news anchors as well as field reporters? Are women pictured in
stories where women can be used as the image for the story, or is
the news photography or video predominantly male? The seminar leader
should pull examples from the newspaper and video samples provided
by the participants or examples that the leader has found and feels
would be excellent to illustrate the lack of diversity in the news
images we project.
- As you show
the examples to the group, ask them to brainstorm other ways the
stories could have been illustrated with an eye to diversity rather
than simply using the same male government sources and showing
their photos or video clips.
- Ask the participants
to specifically review stories and art work that accompany crime
stories. Crime stories are frequently more graphic. Also find
video or still photographs of news broadcasts from war zones or
zones of civil unrest. Do these pictures and videos provide a
slanted view of the unrest or fighting? Are the video images,
particularly, used to provide a point of view? Is this or should
this be the journalist's goal? How can presenting a point of view
be avoided in stories that have a strong political or historical
context that has traditionally excluded all views but the government's
view?
Pictures - both
still and video - must reflect the news. But there are no rules
as to who must be included in the pictures to reflect the news.
Except for the breaking news events, the spot news stories, there
are often choices.
| Note
to Leader: |
Review the
newspapers and video provided by the participants and go over
the pictures that are available. Discuss whether there were
other opportunities to provide a more diverse picture of the
event than was used by the newspaper or television station?
Discuss the stories that are chosen from the video clips provided.
Might there have been other opportunities to illustrate the
story that would have provided a more diverse view of the
news story?
|
When there is
a major event, photographers can look for opportunities to capture
the diversity of the crows rather than focusing the lens eye on
those who represent the sameness of the majority.
Example:
In a recent election story, the photographer photographed a voting
place with a woman monitoring the polls and a woman voting. The
photographer knew that this scene in a male-dominated society would
not have been recorded in the past. The photographer's picture signals
a new day. The photographer probably could have gone to another
polling place or could have shot a similar picture with men and
walked away. The photographer in this case captured change and readers
or viewers will be affected in some way by the change represented
in the image. Consciously or unconsciously, the reader or viewer
will begin to sense a shift in the community and the role of women
in that community.
| Note
to Leader: |
Again, look
for examples of pictures that provide a sense of subtle change
within the community. Are there any in the newspapers or broadcast
materials provided before the seminar? Are there any pictures
that the seminar participants would question could have been
taken with others creating diversity without changing the
news event?
|
One of the goals
in examining images for diversity is to make it possible for some
of our readers and viewers to say: "Thanks for letting me see
myself in your newspaper or television broadcast. Thanks for letting
me be a part of this community as you, the news media, define our
community through the news you report each day."
| Note
to Leader: |
At this
point, the seminar leader should stress that the images used
are a matter of choice by the persons within the news media
who are making the decisions about what images should be printed
or prepared for broadcast. How must the decision-making change
if there is to be an increase in diverse images in the newspaper
or in the television news broadcasts? Go back and look at
some of the footage and newspaper photographs reviewed earlier
in this module. Where are the other choices that could have
been made? When should that choice have been made, and who
makes the choices? The leader should engage the group in discussion
about viewing the scene of a story and making the choices
at the point that the artwork is being planned and shot by
the photographer/reporter or camera person.
|
Diversity in the
art work used by the news media also includes the decision making
when one picture is chosen over another for a story. Each person
responsible for taking and choosing art should begin to ask what
is the best way to illustrate this story while drawing in as many
readers as possible.
| Note
to Leader: |
Choose two
or three stories without pictures from local or national newspapers
that would lend themselves to a brainstorming session about
the kind of artwork that best illustrates the story while
keeping the diversity principles in mind. Write down the suggestions
for each story on large sheets of paper that should be visible
to the participants. Once the process has been completed,
suggest to the participants that they use the process for
stories in which they are responsible for the artwork. How
would each participant include such a process as part of their
news organization?
|
Editorial Commentary:
Cartoons
Editorial cartoons
pose a special challenge. Editorial cartoons are meant to be irreverent
and, at times, to present the extremes of political views or social
discordance. These cartoons often trade heavily on stereotypes of
minority groups.
But editorial
cartoons, though in a different league, are not immune from evaluation,
particularly when the cartoons tend to perpetuate stereotypes that
divide the community or reinforce hatred and distrust. The remedy
here is the constant debate and vigilance of journalists and news
organizations.
| Note
to Leader: |
- Find
samples of editorial cartoons and make copies available
to the participants. Ask whether there is anything in any
of the cartoons that would be offensive to the participants;
to someone from another racial, ethnic or religious group?
The final question: Do the participants believe the offensiveness
- even the threat of offense - was a "price worth paying"
for the message that was conveyed by the cartoon? Use the
participants' response as a benchmark for determining whether
editorial commentary in the form of cartoons is so offensive
as to be threatening to any segment of the population.
- Begin
a discussion regarding the difference between the editorial
cartoon and the news photography that accompanies news stories
in print or on television. What are the different standards
applied to both? Does the public understand that difference?
What would be the participants' view of what should be done
if an offensive cartoon were printed? What if there was
a complaint from the community? What if everyone knew it
was offensive and there were no complaints? Would the fact
that there were no complaints be a sign of a problem between
the community and the media, one which the media would have
to work to overcome?
|
|
